William h



W. H.'AND E. B. RI'DGWAY.

STEAM HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4| 192].

1,41 9,761. Patented June 13, 1922.

WILLIAM H; RIDGWAY AND ELLIS B. RIIDGWAY, 0F COA'I ESVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM HYDRAULIC ELEVATOR.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1922.

Application filed May 14, 1921. Serial No. 469,641.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. RIDG- WAY and ELLIs B. RIDGWAY, citizens of the United States, residing in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Steam Hydraulic Elevators, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to steam-hydraulic elevators and the like, and is especially concerned with the pressure tanks wherein the gas or vapor under pressure (usually steam or compressed air) acts on the liquid to force it into the hydraulic cylinder whose piston operates the elevator. Such pressure tanks are often required to be of very con siderable capacity, since they must accommodate an amount of water equal to the full piston displacement,which in the case of heavy duty elevators operating over considerable heights with steam at moderate pressures is considerable, owing to the large size of piston required. In such cases, it is sometimes a matter of difficulty to find space for the large pressure tank in convenient proximity to the elevator.

In accordance with our invention, we obviate this difficulty by making the pressure tank of multitubular construction. This allows the tank to be given a great variety of forms, according to the exigencies of the case: in particular, it may be made thin and flat so that it can readily be accommodated in the usual clearances (or in clearances but slightly greater than usual) adjacent the walls of almost any elevator shaft. The multitubular construction affords other valuable advantages, since it allows tanks of any capacity required to be built with standard headers or manifolds connected by a.

plurality of pipes cut to the length required to give the capacity needed in the particular case,so that the elevator equipment manufacturer need not carry in stock a great variety of bulky and expensive tanks. Moreover, the space available in an elevator shaft is in direct proportion to one of the factorsthe liftthat determines the tank capacity required.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of an elevator system embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing a vertical section through one of the tank headers and the adjacent portions of a couple of the pipe lengths.

. Fig. 3' is a plan View illustrating the. arrangement of the apparatus at one side of an elevator shaft, which appears in section.

In the gas (air or steam) hydraulic system shown in Fig. 1, 5 is the usual hydraulic cylinder in which works the piston connected toan ordinary movable sheave (or set of sheaves) 7 by a rod 8. The pressure tank 10 of the system comprises upper and lower manifolds 11 and 12 interconnected by tubes or pipes 13 screwed into their integral nipples 14. (See Fig. 2.) The upper manitold 11 has at one end (see Fig, 2) a gas supply connection 15 leading to a gas supply control valve 16 whose casinghas alternative steam and compressed air connections 17 and 18. The lower manifold 12 has at its lower side a connection 19 leading through a control valve 20 to the upper end of the hydraulic cylinder 5, above the piston 6.- The operating crank-arms 21 and 22 of the valves 16 and 20 are interconnected by a link-rod 23 whose length can be adjusted by means of a turnbuckle 24; and

the end of one of the crank-arms may be prolonged into a pointer that coacts with a scale to show when the valves are in up,

down, or neutral, stop positions. To one scribed with the multitubular pressure tank 10 mounted flat along one side of the elevator shaft 30. As here shown, the multitubular tank 10 is-supported from the wall 81 my hangers 82 engaging the upper manifold 11. The various parts are represented by the same reference numerals as in Fig. 1, and it will be seen that their relative arrangement is slightly different, for the sake of greater compactness. The whole system is inthe relatively narrow space between the shaft wall 31 and one of the guideways 33 for the elevator Beg-which guide way is mounted on cross-beams 35 at one side of the shaft 80.

We claim:

1. The combination with an elevator shaft of a gas-hydraulic elevator system compsising gas supply and Water connection manifolds with interconnecting pipes mounted flat along one sideof the shaft and serving as pressure tank for the elevator system.

2. A gas-hydraulic elevator system comprising as its pressure tank manifolds connected to the gas supply and to the Water cylinder, respectively, and a multiplicity 0t pipes interconnecting said manifolds.

3. The combination with a pressure tank tor a gas-hydraulic elevator system comprismg upper and lower man folds W1th amultiplicity of pipes interconnecting them, of gas respectively, and an inward-openingair-admission-check valve connected to one of said ipes. p WILLIAM H RXDGWAY;

ELLIS B. RIDGl/VAY. 

